Red bottomed Rhode Island Reds

[DanielleCampsmith]

Hi, my name is Danielle and I have 5 year-old hens and 7 month-old chickens. We are new to chickens and it has been quite a wonderful adventure for my family. Last winter when my older chickens molted, the 2 Rhode Island Reds turned bright red on their undersides. There was no evidence of mites or lice and none of the other chickens experienced this. They act fine and have new feathers coming in, but their skin is still bright red. Any ideas?

 

[CarpCharacin]

Welcome to BYC!
Can you post a picture of where their skin is red?

 

[DanielleCampsmith]

Sure...

 

[CarpCharacin]

Hmm, I don't see a whole lot of new feathers coming in. Are you sure there aren't any parasites? They can be pretty hard to see.

 

[DanielleCampsmith]

Hmm, I don't see a whole lot of new feathers coming in. Are you sure there aren't any parasites? They can be pretty hard to see.

Wouldn’t my other chickens have them also? They are all together all of the time. If so, how would I treat them?

 

[CarpCharacin]

Wouldn’t my other chickens have them also? They are all together all of the time. If so, how would I treat them?

Yeah, if they are parasites, you'll probably want to treat the whole flock, but I'm not 100% certain as to what your chickens have.
Here is an article that goes over external parasites:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-fleas-dealing-with-external-parasites.74599/
Also, here is a picture I took of lice: